The national epidemic of opioid abuse and overdoses is almost a daily feature in news media. Meanwhile, recent figures indicate that prescriptions for painkillers continue to increase in Canada. It is in this context that the Canadian Human Rights Commission recently released a new guide: Impaired at Work: A guide to accommodating substance dependence.

Employers are still wrestling with the consequences of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on the random drug and alcohol testing of employees in Irving Pulp. While the initial reaction from arbitrators appears to suggest that Irving Pulp made the likelihood of such a program surviving a challenge minimal, a decision out of the British Columbia Labour Relations Board indicates that there may still be room in Canada for these sorts of programs.